DESCRIPTION: (Applicant's Abstract) This project seeks to understand the causes of a particularly dangerous yet common behavior: driving under the influence of drugs (DUI). The proposed studies emphasize frequently used, strongly psychoactive drugs involved in DUI (and other problems associated with intoxication): marijuana, alcohol, LSD, "speed," and cocaine. The etiological approach applied to DUI and drug abuse is well grounded in cognitive science. A series of studies is proposed to investigate critical issues from this approach in two particularly high-risk populations: continuation high school students and adult DUI offenders. The specific aims of the project are as follows: a) In Studies 1 and 2, investigate the immediate antecedents of DUI and drug abuse in ways most amenable to research on memory activation. That is, the project will determine the cues that lead to the relatively automatic activation of concepts that promote DUI and other forms of problem drug use. These studies will use procedures that re-create the cognitive context of DUI and drug abuse, so that cues that are strongly associated with these behaviors in memory are elicited from subjects. b) In Studies 3 and 4, determine the best procedures for assessing memory activation in at-risk individuals by evaluating the predictive utility of associative memory responses to different types of cues, under different assessment conditions. These measures will be used to predict both DUI and drug use/abuse. c) In Studies 5 and 6, the most valid procedures from the previous steps will be used to evaluate prospectively theoretical models of how cognitive processes influence DUI and drug use behaviors over time in at-risk populations. These processes will be assessed by measuring the activation of concepts in memory in response to cues that characterize the high-risk situations that precede drug abuse and DUI. d) In Studies 7 and 8, test a memory enhancement component suitable as an adjunct to secondary prevention or treatment interventions among at-risk individuals. This component will link program information to the high risk situations that precipitate DUI and other forms of problem drug use, so that such information will be more accessible from memory when it is most needed. The health implications of this project include: 1) likely advances in the understanding of the causes of drug use, DUI, and other drug-related problems; 2) likely advances in the assessment of the cognitive and situational antecedents of DUI and drug abuse; 3) development of procedures that help make the content of interventions (knowledge, skills) more readily used by at-risk individuals in high-risk settings; and 4) potential improvements in behavioral and health outcomes of individuals who participate in DUI or other drug abuse interventions.